Finding hope
by Ladyhighsummoner
Summary: AU. Aerith is a princess in nothing but name. Her parents murdered and her birthright stolen, she lives her life on the run. Cloud is the mercenary tasked with hunting her down by the usurper Rufus who believes the Cetra hold the key to untold power. Cloud has never failed a job but falling in love with the feisty princess might complicate things.
1. Chapter 1

Aerith finds herself being shaken awaken in the darkness of early morning. "Time to go." A gruff familiar voice. "They found you."

Again. The flare of a candle being lit, illuminates Barret's face, he's already turning away to grab a leather bag and her staff. Always be prepared to move, drilled into her for ten years now, she leaps out of bed, grabbing the cloak he tosses to her and shrugging it on. She pulls the hood over her face and takes the bag and staff he shoves at her. "They'll be here in an hour maybe less, with an army. We've lost contact with the sentries. We have to assume they're already dead." Barret's voice is cold but Aerith knows him, Cosmo is a small community and everyone is family, but grief comes later. She follows him out of the room, jogging to keep up with his brisk pace.

"Marlene? Nanaki? Bugenhagen?" She asks as they move down one passageway and another.

She sees the residents of Cosmo Canyon, her home and family for the last two years, rushing past, holding weapons, others children. "Nanaki is with the warriors, Bugenhagen is preparing a spell. Maybe some can be saved. Marlene will be taken to safety with the other children." Barret replies and Aerith stops walking.

"He's a teenager! Barret they're going to be massacred!" Barret turns and comes back towards her. "We have to move!" He snaps, grabbing her arm. "No!" She stands resolute. "Damn it Aerith! Saving you is everything!" Barret glowers at her. "I will throw you over my shoulder I swear to the goddess."

"I am going to give myself up, I'm not letting all these people die for me. There are children here!" She yanks her arm free and stands firm, gripping her staff tightly. Barret sighs and closes his eyes for a moment. Then he looks at her. "Aerith, without you, the resistance has nothing. You are the sole survivor Cetra, the lone heir to the throne. Our only hope to overthrow Rufus. Please. People will die here tonight but many more if we lose you." She hates his words with a passion, but what can she do? They are true. "Barret…I…" She says hopelessly. "What can I do? I have no army, no power, just a dead legacy. That's no hope."

"Then find one. You have the resistance, men and women willing to die for you. Don't make their sacrifice mean nothing. Now come, this way." She follows him now, into the deepest reaches of the caverns. His words echo in her head, maybe there is a way but what? How?

They come to a large hole with a rope ladder, a secret way out only a few know. "Go. Take the path down, a chocobo waits for you." He pushes her firmly but gently in front of him. "You're not coming?" She stares at him and he shakes his head.

"I will fight." He pats the crossbow that takes the place of his right hand. "Barret no!" He touches her shoulder. "I won't die today, we will see each other again. I promise." She hugs him briefly but hard. "You better keep that promise." She struggles to keep the tears out of her voice.

"You bet Princess. Now go, head for Nibelheim. There's a tavern there, called Seventh Heaven, in the slum part of town. Ask for Tifa, she'll help you. Now hurry!"

Barret watches as she climbs down the ladder, bag and staff strapped to her back then turns his back. "Stay safe princess." He whispers then heads back the way they came, wondering if he truly will survive another day. 

King Rufus stands on a cliff face watching the chaos in Cosmo Canyon below him. His soldiers easily outnumber their enemy and soon he shall have the Cetra girl in hand. A soldier from the battle field rides up. "Your Majesty." He goes to one knee. "Yes, yes." Rufus waves his hand impatiently. "What of the girl? You have her yes?"

The soldier hesitated and Rufus scowled. "Don't tell me she got away again?" His voice is cold and deadly. "There are many tunnels to search, she could be hiding in any one of them." The man says quickly. Rufus cuts him off with a glare. "Burn it, burn them all. They will be a lesson to the next fools who dare to hide her from me." He orders.

"But there are child-"

"I don't care. I want everything they own to be ash, if it doesn't burn, bury it. That's an order from your king? Understood?"

"Yes, my lord." The soldier says quietly and leaves. Rufus glares around him furiously. "That mercenary, the one I requested, bring him to me. A servant flees at once. He returns with a young blond man with a large sword and cool blue eyes. "You asked for me?"  
"Yes, you. Strife was it? Find the Cetra, bring her to me, alive."

"You agree to my terms?" Cloud asked.

"Done and I'll even overlook your disrespect in not addressing me properly."

"Very well. I'm here to do a job not massage your ego. Shall I curtsey to salve your wounded pride or can I go?"

Rufus wanted to kill the man for the insolent stare that accompanied those words. "Get out of here. Bring me the girl." He said instead, waving his hand dismissively.

Cloud headed out of Rufus' camp to where he had his chocobo tethered. The black bird kwehed quietly in greeting. "Hey Fenrir buddy." Cloud patted his beak. "We've got a job to do, let's go." He swung himself onto the bird's back. "We got ourselves a lost princess to find."


	2. Chapter 2

The mood at the Seventh Heaven tavern was a somber one. Everyone had heard of the vicious attack on Cosmo Canyon. Tifa moved from table to table, dispensing drinks and taking orders, a calm expression on her face hiding her inner turmoil. She kept one ear on the conversations around her, you never know what alcohol loosened lips might say.

No mention of Barret who was still missing, but she had received word that the children had been relocated, so at least little Marlene was safe. Something else caught her attention though. "I heard Rufus has hired some elite bounty hunter to hunt down the princess." One man said in a loud whisper a table over. Tifa moved closer to listen.

"Bah, nothing he has done has caught her these past ten years. He sent the whole army and that still didn't work, what's one man gonna do? The resistance has her somewhere safe, mark my words." His companion said not even bothering to whisper.

Tifa wished that were true but they'd had no word or sighting of Aerith in the two days since the attack. "I don't know about that, this fellow, I heard, he's special got some real uncanny abilities. Might not even be human."

"Bullshit, we're all human, cept those Cetra and the Lady Aerith is the last and she ain't even full blooded. Goddess keep her safe, she's the only light we have left against that greedy cruel son of a bitch."

Tifa moved away, frowning slightly. Rumours of magically enhanced warriors had reached her ears before but they could be just regular talented warriors, people did tend to exaggerate. But she wouldn't put anything past Rufus. She headed behind the bar and started pouring more drinks.

She itched to go out herself and search for her dear friend and the princess she hadn't seen for years. Aerith had been hidden by Tifa's parents for several months, 10 years ago. They had been killed protecting her and Tifa was determined that they would not die for nothing. She wondered if she would even recognise Aerith now, the princess had been 12, herself 10.

"Um excuse me." Tifa shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned to the customer with a smile. "What can I get for you…?" The words died on her lips as she stared at the young woman in the too large cloak peering anxiously at her. "I'm looking for a woman named Tifa, can you help me?"  
"Holy shit." Tifa gaped at Aerith, who stared back.

"Tifa? Little Tifa?" Aerith whispered. "When Barret mentioned your name, I thought surely it couldn't be the same little girl. But it is you, isn't it?" Tifa snapped herself out of her daze and hurried around the bar to Aerith's side.

"Come, quickly." She grabbed Aerith's hand and took her upstairs to where she lived, above the tavern. Tifa spoke a word and waved a hand then Mako infused candle light lit up a small living room with a cosy glow. "Do you know what happened to Barret?" Aerith asked a moment before Tifa was going to ask her the same question.

"No, and I guess you don't either." Tifa said with a sigh. "I'm so sorry, your majesty." Aerith made a face. "Please don't, its Aerith. We used to play together, do you remember?"

Tifa smiled in response. "You made me a flower crown and said I was a princess too." She said fondly. Then her parents had died and Aerith had been whisked away by the resistance and Tifa had been left with nothing. Her smile disappeared and she turned away from Aerith, forcing the memories of blood and fire away. The resistance had taken her in, cared for her, taught her to fight. And one day, she would have justice.

"Tifa… your parents, I'm so sorry." Aerith touched her shoulder gently. "I'm okay, really. What happened was Rufus' fault not yours." Tifa said firmly. "And I will kill him one day." She set her shoulders and turned back to Aerith.

"Right, first things first. We notify the resistance immediately that you are safe and plan our next move. I have a sending crystal so we can contact them straight away. They've been insane with worry about you. " Aerith's stomach growled suddenly, startling both of them. Tifa laughed. "Well maybe dinner first, you just wait, I'm a fantastic cook, you're in for a treat."

"Goddess curse it." Cloud had followed yet another group of Cosmo refugees to only find, that the princess was not among them either. She must have fled on her own, separated from her protectors somehow.

There was a small fishing village a short distance from the way he came, perhaps he could find clues there. Rufus' soldiers had been sent to scour every small village surrounding Cosmo Canyon but they weren't known for their competence in finding the missing Cetra. He stopped at a stream and dismounted from Fenrir to let the bird drink and have a break from his weight.

He bent to refill his canteen and his eagle eyes caught sight of chocobo tracks a few paces downstream that didn't belong to Fenrir. Curious, he moved closer, scanning the ground carefully. Evening was falling so it was getting hard to make out anything in the gloom. There. In the sun dried mud was the imprint of a small boot, woman sized. Someone else had been here recently. A small round hole next to it, like the end of a stick had been pressed into the earth.

"Or a staff." He muttered, a smirk appearing on his face. The Cetras were known for their skill with magic and the use of staffs or staves to channel it. But this didn't tell him where she was heading. Just that she had been nearby in the last day or so. He glanced up towards the mountains. "Surely she didn't head to Nibelheim, did she boy?"

Ten years ago the nobility in Nibelheim had been killed and replaced with lackeys loyal to Rufus and the place was crawling with imperial guard. It would be utterly foolish of her to find sanctuary there. "But who said royals were smart." Cloud spoke out loud. Fenrir finished drinking and came over to head butt his owner gently. Cloud rubbed his beak. "Okay, buddy. I know you're hungry. We'll eat and rest for a while then check out Nibelheim."

-  
After dinner Tifa drew Aerith a large bath, heated by fire materia then left her to bathe while she went to use the sending crystal.

It only took a few moments and Cid's voice came though. "What's up missy? Heard from Barret?"  
"No, but Aerith is here. She arrived a short time ago, alone." Cid was stuck speechless for a moment then let out a loud whoop. "Great one Teef!"

Tifa winced. "Keep it down old man."

"Yeah yeah, okay. We need to get her away from Nibelheim before she discovered, there's too many Rufus bootlickers in your town. You're a hell of a fighter girlie but even you can't take em all."

"Then what, get her to Gongaga? To Zack and his group?"

"Nah, nah, too dangerous to head back that way. Bring her to me."

"Through the mountains?! Are you crazy?" Tifa exclaimed.

"Well you can't go by sea, Rufus' goons run all boats in and around this area, you know that."

"You want me to hike through mountains, infested with monsters and dragons with the princess." Tifa stated flatly.

"Don't you go through those mountains by yourself and also helping others run supplies all the time? You know those mountains like your own home girl. I'll send Vincent your way, you'll be fine. Besides don't you have Biggs, Wedge and Jessie?"

"You know as well as I do, that they have their own important duties." Tifa sighed. "It's fine. I'll handle it. Anything I need to know?"

"No updates on Yuffie at the moment. Nanaki's recovering nicely. Reeve says Rufus is planning something big, but no details as of yet. A lot of our people are still scattered or unaccounted for."

"Which is why you don't have more people to help me with Aerith." Tifa realised

"He killed a lot of us, love." Cid's voice now strangely gentle.

His voice grew harsh. "But we ain't done yet, not by a long shot. Take care of that girl."

"Will do, boss."

"Goddess guide you, Tifa."

"Goddess guide you." She replied automatically and powered down the crystal. She took a moment to compose her thoughts, keep her worries and grief hidden as always. Then she went to organise for a trip into the mountains. They would leave at dawn.


End file.
